Did the media want to know why Jimmer entered the game at all? Did you pay
attention to that shooting percentage? A player with those stats isn't
going to be demanding starting minutes or minutes at all.

"He has a higher shooting percentage and player
efficiency rating than Lillard."

Against other 2nd and 3rd
stringers. And let's remember the defensive liability. Not trying to hate
on Jimmer, just keeping it real. I still believe Jimmer could find a spot to be
more productive somewhere in this league, but it's not as easily done as
most on these Jimmer threads want to believe.

I believe it will be challenging for Jimmer to
find a place in this league. It took JJ Reddick a couple of seasons to find a
niche and I see Jimmer as a similar player: A good role player who can affect
the game with the deep ball.

Could you please name five point guards
in the league right now, that are known to be strong defenders? D-Will
certainly wasn't while here in Utah, Steve Nash is so-so and Chris Paul
like Damian Lillard can be a liability down low against bigger points. Stephon
Curry, JJ Barea, Ty Lawson, and even our own Mo Williams are a few more examples
of more offensively minded guards.

Defense in the NBA isn't too much of an emphasis compared
to college, but if you are looking for five good defensive point guards, I would
suggest Kevin Martin, Russell Westbrook, Jamal Crawford, Mike Conely, and Tony
Parker. They are up there in steals, +/-, rebounds for guards, etc.

Jimmer does alright on defense when he is playing against reserves. Playing
against starters is a whole different thing. Lillard defense is not stellar,
but he makes up for it with his offense, passing, and some intangibles against
starters.

I agree mostly with your point about Jimmer, but I
wouldn't lump him in with JJ Reddick. Reddick's college game was a
little more controlled and team-oriented, which crosses over to the NBA better.
Jimmer was allowed to go wild, which didn't do him any favors preparing him
for the NBA.

I agree with you about Lillard--hope he wins Rookie of
the Year. I hope Jimmer gets on a new team, but I think it's not a cure
all like many think. He is making strides, but will have some more learning
years ahead.

Your comment verbatim "Defense in the NBA isn't too
much of an emphasis compared to college..."

If defense isn't
an emphasis in the NBA (a theory I agree with). Why do you, motorbike and many
others continue to use this as a crux of why the Jimmer is not playing?

As for not comparing Jimmer with Reddick. Go back and check the stats,
Reddick's stats are similar to Jimmer's in his first couple of seasons
and Reddick was in a much better situation. Saying that Jimmer isn't in
another bench players "league" is incorrect.

Jimmer did what
had to be done at BYU. Unlike Reddick, he didn't play with multiple future
NBA players i.e. Luol Deng, Sheldon Williams, Chris Duhon. Maybe it has hurt
him in the NBA, but it was necessary.

Thanks for naming five
guards, although Kevin Martin and Jamal Crawford are shooting guards, not point
guards.

Jimmer is the 5th best guard on the Kings.Stats don't show how poorly
he defends either.If he can barely find minutes on the worst team in the
league (most coming when they are getting blown off of the court), he won't
find minutes if he ever plays for a decent team.

Because the NBA is poor when it comes to defense, it makes
players who are good at defense that much better. Players can still be a
liability when it comes defense. I think Jimmmer would be a liability against
starters--he is fine coming off the bench. Lillard has some work to do on the
defensive side against starters--but he can still more than make up for it with
his other skills.

I am not saying Jimmer is not in Reddick's
league. I am saying that Reddick played in a much more structured college game
which crossed over to the NBA. Jimmer was allowed to try and create and take a
majority of the shots--which no team would allow a rookie to do, unless
extraordinary circumstances.

I think Jimmer's teammates fell in
the shadows of Jimmermania. I think Emery was an excellent shooter, and Davies
was still a big key down low. The coaches that realized this and didn't
double Jimmer had better success. Sure Jimmer got a lot of points, but the open
looks for Emery and other players weren't there.

Rather than spouting cliches about Jimmer's pros and cons, let's look
at something real I haven't seen mentioned on these boards: His +/-. For
those unfamiliar with this stat, it answers the question of "did your team
outscore the other team while you were on the floor"? In the end,
that's the only stat that matters, right?

It's only really
useful when comparing players on one team, because naturally a player's +/-
is going to look better if he's on a good team. I like the stat because (1)
it's easy to understand, as opposed to measures like PER, and (2) it
captures results of both offense and defense.

A look at
Sacramento's +/- numbers show that Jimmer is the only guy on their roster
with a positive number this year (+8). The bottom? The guy he's supposedly
competing with for minutes, Thornton, at a -129. Yes, a good portion of
Jimmer's minutes so far have been in garbage time, but not to the extent
some of you seem to believe. Bottom line . . when Jimmer's been in the
game, the Kings have been a much better team.